Profile element and facade system with profile element

ABSTRACT

A profile element and a facade system for mounting on buildings having facade panels are connected to profile elements, each profile element having a receiving section, a fastening section and a mounting section. The receiving section forms a receiving space at its free end and the fastening section is formed such that it rests at least partially on the back of the facade panel. The fastening section is positioned with respect to the facade panel such that the mounting section extends beyond the facade pane.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to European Patent App. No.EP19162007.9 (Publication No. EP3536873A1) for PROFILE ELEMENT, FACADESYSTEM WITH PROFILE ELEMENT filed on Mar. 11, 2019, the entirety ofwhich is incorporated by this reference.

BACKGROUND Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a profile element for attaching a facade panelto a building wall or facade beam, a facade system, and a constructionkit with the profile element for producing a facade by mounting facadepanels on a building wall or a facade beam. In particular, the inventionrelates to facade systems for curtain-type, rear-ventilated facades. Theinvention may be used in the case of small or medium format facadepanels, which are made in particular from glass fiber concrete or fibercement.

Prior Art

Prior art profile elements and facade systems are generally known.However, these are complex and therefore expensive to manufacture anduse.

US Patent Application No. 2014/0325927A1 discloses a wall panelconsisting of a thin stone slab of 3-10 mm thickness, a reinforcementplate attached to this stone slab and a frame comprising thisreinforcement plate. The reinforcement plate is the same size as thestone slab and is glued to it. The frame consists of individual beams,which individually form one side of the frame, and is attached to thereinforcement plate. In the upper and lower beams of the frame recessesfor receiving hooks are provided. Using these hooks, the wall plate isfastened to the facade. The wall panels must be fastened from the bottomup. It is not possible to remove or install a wall plate placed in themiddle of the facade.

The present invention solves the deficiencies of the prior art byproviding a profile element for an alternative facade system that isinexpensive to manufacture, flexible and easy to use and yet easy tomount or to dismount. In particular, individual facade panels can bereplaced on a finished facade without having to dismantle adjacentpanels. A facade system according to the present invention that can beefficiently and economically produced and has only a few individualparts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the invention relates to a profile element for arrangementon the back of a facade panel and a method for fastening the facadepanel to a building wall or a facade beam via the profile element.According to the invention, the profile element is integrally formed andhas a receiving section, a fastening section and a mounting section,wherein the receiving section forms a receiving space at its free endand the fastening section is positioned with respect to the facade panelso that the mounting section extends beyond the facade panel.

In this way, a facade system is created, wherein there is no need forthe profile element to cooperate with other elements of the facadesystem in order to fulfill its carrying function. Only the integrallyformed profile element must be connected to the facade panel, and thefacade element thereby created is fixed to the building in the area ofthe mounting section extending beyond the facade panel. Due to theirshape, the profile elements have the advantage that each facade elementcan be installed or removed independently of the neighboring facadeelements.

Advantageous embodiments of the profile element are also describedherein. The advantageous variants of embodiments described below, eitheralone or in combination with each other, result in further improvementsof the profile element.

According to a first advantageous embodiment of the profile elementaccording to the invention, the receiving space is essentially U-shapedand has a first leg of the U-shaped receiving space, which lies in thesame plane as the fastening section resting on the back of the facadepanel. This makes it possible to place the profile element on the facadepanel and fasten it. The profile elements are mechanically fastened tothe facade panel, for example screwed, but can in principle also beglued or otherwise attached by devices, materials or methods known inthe art. For this purpose, for example, the TU-S blind fastening systemfrom SFS or undercut anchor systems from Fischer or Keil can be used. Itis also conceivable that rivets may be used to fasten the profileelements on the facade panel.

According to a further advantageous embodiment, the profile elementaccording to the invention has a second leg in the area of the receivingspace, which lies in the same plane as the mounting section. This makesit possible to place the profile element on a wall of a building or on afacade beam and then to fasten it without the facade element being ableto tilt. In one embodiment, the facade panel with the profile elementsis mounted on a wall of a building or on a facade beam by screws, thescrews being placed in the area of the mounting section. In particular,when the facade panels in the installed state are mounted so that a gapis formed between the facade panels, and if this gap is sufficientlylarge dimensioned, it is possible for a tool to reach the screws in thearea of the mounting section to screw on the facade panel together withprofile elements or to detach it from the wall or facade beam. The gapbetween the installed facade panels should therefore be between 5 mm and20 mm, between 6 mm and 10 mm, or about 8 mm. With this gap dimension,on the one hand, the facade appears elegantly styled and offerssufficient visual protection for the elements attached behind the facadeand, on the other hand, is large enough to easily reach the screws witha tool.

With regard to the U-shaped receiving space, which is formed from afirst and a second leg that extend from a base, it should be noted thatthis U-shaped receiving space can also be formed so that the second legtogether with the base and the facade panel forms the receiving space.The first leg can therefore be omitted.

In a further embodiment, a stepped recess is formed on a free end of themounting section and in a further embodiment, in the installed state,superposed facade panels are positioned such that the stepped recess ofthe one profile element protrudes into the receiving space of the otherprofile element.

Furthermore, a stop which is aligned essentially transversely to the legcan be formed on the free end of the second leg of the U-shapedreceiving space. This stop can fix the stepped recess protruding intothe receiving space with respect to its horizontal movement play. Inorder to be able to insert the recess into the receiving space or totake it out again, the height of the second leg is equal to or greaterthan the height of the recess.

The profile element may be attached exclusively to the back of thefacade panel. Parts of the profile element can come to rest on the topor bottom of the profile element. There is no part of the profileelement on the front of the facade panel. In a further embodiment, theprofile element is arranged only on the back and top of the facadepanel.

One to five profile elements can be fastened to a facade element.Furthermore, the profile elements may be made of aluminum and producedin an extrusion process and then anodized. Typical dimensions of aprofile element for a facade panel with the dimensions of 15 cm×180 cmare 16 cm×6 cm, 3 profile elements being used with a length of thefacade panel of 180 cm. The height of the facade panel can vary between6.5 cm and 15 cm.

A construction kit with the profile element according to the inventiondescribed above additionally has a start and an end profile as thesecond and third profile elements. Using the start and end profiles, thefacade panels can be mounted on the facade edge, usually at the bottomand at the top. Both the start and the end profile have certain featuresof the profile element, that is to say they are basically half a profileelement formed either from the top or bottom section of the profileelement according to the invention. The start profile is fastened to thebuilding wall or facade beam and defines the bottom edge of the facadewall. Compared to the profile element, it has only one mounting sectionand the recess adjacent to the mounting section. In this way, the startprofile is used to receive the profile element of the bottommost facadepanel.

The end profiles, however, are only mounted on the back of the topmostfacade panel of a facade wall or on a facade panel adjacent to a windowsill, for example. The structure of the end profiles basically onlydiffers in the mounting section. The end profile has mounting sectionthat is, in the installed state, flush vertically oriented along thebuilding wall. The profile is fastened with a screw above the upper edgeof the facade panel. If the facade panel has to be narrower for reasonsof space, for example, because it has to be installed under a windowsill, the facade panel is cut accordingly and then the end profile ismounted on the back. The end profile is then also shortened to such anextent that the fastening continues to be above the top edge of thefacade. A subject of the invention also relates to a facade system withthe profile element described above for producing a building facade,comprising facade panels and profile elements connected or connectableto the facade panels.

The facade system according to the invention is particularly suitablefor small or medium-sized facade panels in the typical size of a widthof about 6 cm to 40 cm and a length of up to about 180 cm, wherein thefacade panels can be made of glass fiber concrete, fiber cement orlaminate panels plates also referred to as HPL-panels (High PressureLaminate—HPL). The facade system may be used for horizontal orientationsof the facade elements. However, vertical or diagonal orientations arealso possible.

The height of the profile element, that is to say the distance from themounting section to the receiving section, is greater than the height ofthe facade panel to which the profile element is attached. Thisfacilitates both the mounting and dismantling of a facade panel,regardless of its position in the facade wall.

The optional features mentioned can be implemented in any combination,provided that they are not mutually exclusive. Further advantages andfeatures of the invention result from the following detailed descriptionof the invention with reference to schematic representations in thedrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

In a representation that is not to scale:

FIG. 1 shows a sectional view through a facade system according to theinvention with three facade elements in the installed state.

FIG. 2 shows a sectional view through a facade system according to theinvention with three facade elements, the central facade element beingshown in an uninstalled or dismounted state.

FIG. 3 shows a side view of a further possible embodiment of a profileelement.

FIG. 4 shows a vertical section of the profile element shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 shows a side view of a start profile for receiving the profileelement of the bottommost facade panels.

FIG. 6 shows a side view of an end profile as a partial profile of theprofile element.

FIG. 7 shows a vertical section of the end profile shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 shows a sectional view through a façade system according to theinvention with three facade elements and the correct arrangement of thethree different profiles.

FIG. 9 shows a top view of a possible embodiment of a corner connectionpanel.

FIG. 10 shows a representation of a sheathing of a corner with a facadesystem according to the invention and the use of a corner connectionpanel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a sectional view through a facade system 11 according tothe invention with three facade elements mounted one above the other inthe installed state, a building wall or a facade support not beingshown. The facade elements are all identical in construction and areformed from a facade panel 12 and a profile element 13. Profile element13 is designed as an aluminum extrusion part and has a receiving section15, a fastening section 17 and a mounting section 19. At the free end ofthe receiving section 15, a receiving space 21 is formed, which isU-shaped. The U-shaped receiving space is formed by two legs 23, 25. Astepped recess 27 is formed on the free end of the mounting section. Theheight of profile element 13 is determined by the distance betweenreceiving section 15 and mounting section 19.

Profile element 13 and facade panel 12 are screwed together (screws notshown). The screwing takes place in the area of fastening section 17. Inthis fastening section, profile element 13 is designed in such a waythat fastening section 17 forms a support surface which can be placedflat on facade element 12 and subsequently screwed on. In theinteraction between the support surface with a first leg 23 of receivingspace 21, the profile element is further stabilized on the facade panelbecause the first leg also rests on facade panel 12. In the area of thefree end of the profile part at which mounting section 19 begins, across strut 35 is formed, which forms a stop edge 37. This stop edge 37serves as a positioning aid, since this stop edge 37 abuts toplongitudinal side 45 of facade panel 12 in the installed state. A littlefurther towards fastening section 17, a rib 33 is provided, which formsa further additional support on facade panel 12 for profile element 13.

Mounting section 19 extends beyond longitudinal side 45 of facade panel12. In the area of mounting section 19, which rests directly on abuilding wall or a facade beam (both not shown), profile element 13 withfacade panel 12 carried by profile element 13 is fastened to the wall orthe facade beam by means of a screw not shown. Support surface 22 formedin the area of mounting section 19, which rests on the wall or thefacade beam, is in the same plane as second leg 25 of receiving space21. Thus, it is possible to push profile element 13 together with thefacade panel against the housing wall or against the facade beam duringmounting, because profile element 12 rests cleanly.

The facade elements are mostly mounted from the bottom up on a buildingwall or a facade beam, which means that the bottommost row of the facadeelements is the first to be screwed to the building. Then the second rowfollows. Here, the facade elements of the second row are placed orattached so that a recess 27 of a profile element 13 of the bottommostrow of facades engages in receiving space 21 of a profile element 13 ofthe row of facades above. The facade elements are mounted in such a waythat a gap is formed on all sides between adjacent facade panels 12,which is about 8 mm wide. This ensures that facade panels 12 have enoughspace for expansion caused by heat. In addition, it is possible to reachthe screws through gap 31 between facade panels 12 with a tool.

U-shaped receiving space 21 has a stop 29 at its free end. This stop 29serves to limit or fix recess 27 protruding into receiving space 21 andthus profile element 13 as a whole with regard to the horizontalmovement play.

FIG. 2 shows a sectional view through a facade system according to theinvention with three facade elements, the central facade element beingshown at a moment of installation or dismantling. The height h_(S) ofsecond leg 25 is equal to or greater than the height h_(R) of recess 27.In this way, it is ensured that it is possible that, retrospectively, afacade element can be dismantled from a facade system in the installedstate or can be reinstalled, because this creates a sufficiently largespace for movement. In FIG. 2, the central facade element is shifted inthe direction of the facade element located above. As a result, recess27 of the facade element located underneath no longer protrudes intoreceiving space 21 of the central facade element and the facade elementcan therefore be given away in relation to the housing wall. With thisprocedure, retrospectively installing or retrospectively dismantlingindividual facade elements is possible at any time in a simple manner.

As can be seen in both figures, profile elements 13 according to theinvention have grooves 39, 41 on the side facing the building wall forreceiving a corner connector 43. Such a corner connector 43 is designedfor example as an L-shaped metal angle and is only used in the area ofcorners and reveals of a building. Corner connector 43 is inserted intogrooves 39 and 41 of those adjacent profile elements 13, the facadepanels of which on the face end at a building corner and which aremounted on different sides of the building. This corner connector 43secures and fixes the facade in the corner areas of buildings.

A further embodiment of a profile element is shown in FIG. 3. Incontrast to the previous embodiment, this embodiment has slightstructural differences. Recess 27 at the free end of mounting section 19is configured in a rounded shape, but still has a stepped structure.Furthermore, two support surfaces are arranged one below the other infastening section 17. This enables profile element 13 to be screwed ontofacade panel 12 by two superposed screws 60. Below and above thefastening section there are two ring-shaped screw receptacles 46 onprofile element 13. These are not completely closed in their ring shapebut have an opening, which gives them a crescent shape.

FIG. 4 shows a vertical section of profile element 13. It showsfastening section 17 of two superposed rows of holes 51, which serve toreceive screws for fastening profile element 13 at façade panel 12. Ahorizontal row of holes is arranged in the mounting section, anelongated hole 53 and a circular hole 55 alternating in each case.Elongated holes 53 are aligned in the horizontal direction and have thesame dimension in the vertical direction as circular holes 55. Theseholes in mounting section 19 serve to fasten profile element 13 to abuilding wall 57 or a facade beam. Elongated holes 53 allow play in thehorizontal direction to accommodate a possible expansion of profileelement 13.

FIG. 5 shows a start profile 113, which defines the bottom edge of thefacade. Start profile 113 has, as profile element 13, a mounting section119 with a recess 127 in which is formed in a stepped manner. Recess 127is used to hold receiving section 15 of a profile element 13 which ismounted on the back of a facade panel (see FIG. 8). The mounting sectionhas in this case also a support surface 122, which in the mounted stateabuts the building wall. Using a screw 59, supporting surface 122 andwith it start profile 113 can be fastened to building 57. In contrast toprofile element 13, start profile 113 has recess 127 not at the upperbut at the lower free end. However, recess 127 is still directed upwardsin order to ensure its functionality. Start profile 113 has a lengthcorresponding to that of facade panel 12.

End profile 213 is shown in sectional view in FIG. 6. End profile 213has some identical features as a partial profile of profile element 13.Receiving section 215 is constructed the same, on the one hand.Fastening section 217 also has a vertical support surface 218 in endprofile 213. Mounting section 219 is formed by a further verticallyoriented support surface. Above fastening section 217 there is attacheda leg 256 which comes to be flush with the surface of facade panel 12.The fact that this surface rests on the facade surface prevents the endprofile 213 from pivoting. Another horizontal connecting piece 258connects to mounting section 219. Said mounting section 219 begins belowthe center of end profile 213 and extends vertically upwards, so that,in use, the support surface representing mounting section 219 is flushwith building wall 57 or the facade beam.

The vertical section of end profile 213 in FIG. 7 shows the differentthrough bores 251 arranged at end profile 213. In fastening section 217there are three through bores 251 arranged horizontally next to oneanother. Through these holes 251 screws 260 are passed, which fasten endprofile 213 to facade panel 12. Several rows of through holes arearranged in mounting section 219, with an elongated hole 253 and acircular hole 255 alternating in the horizontal direction. In thevertical direction, the holes are always arranged one below the otherand always have the same hole shape in a row. If below a ceiling or anupper limiter, facade panel 12 must be reduced in height, end profile213 can be adapted to the new height of facade panel 12 by shortening ofmounting section 219.

FIG. 8 shows an example of the use of a construction kit according tothe invention with three facade panels. Here the two lower facade panels12 are fastened to the building wall 57 by means of a profile element 13and top facade panel 12 is fastened to the building wall 57 by means ofan end profile 213. The fastening is made by screws 59, 259. Adjacentfacade panels are separated from one another in the fully mountedconstruction by a gap 31. The gap 31 has a width such at that a screw 59can be passed through this gap. This allows to fasten profile element 13with a screw 59 and by using a tool to the building wall from theoutside. The facade panels are usually mounted from bottom up. Startprofile 113 is mounted at the bottom. It must be attached to that placeat building wall 57 from which the facade is to be hoisted. Fastening ofstart profile 113 to wall 57 is preferably also done by screwconnections.

FIG. 9 shows an alternative embodiment of a corner connector compared tothe corner connector described above. This corner connector comprises apanel 61, the edges of which can be held by grooves 39, 41 of profileelement 13. Panel 61 has a one-sided expansion 62 of the cross sectionon one side. On this side, two holes 63 are arranged at the samedistance from the panel edge. The distance between holes 63 is the sameas that between the annular screw receptacles 46 of profile element 13shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 10 shows the use of the corner connector panel shown in FIG. 9 forsheathing a corner with facade plates 12, which are fastened to buildingwall 57 by profile elements 13 according to the invention. As describedabove, profile elements 13 are fastened to the wall by means of a screwconnection via their mounting section 19. Corner connection panel 61 isto be attached to a profile element 13 of these facade panels 12 beforemounting both facade panels 12. Facade panels 12, which are arrangedperpendicular to one another, are at a distance from one another whichis intended to enable a screw to be passed through and the screw to befastened from the outside using a tool. The screw, which isadvantageously a self-drilling screw, is inserted into the hole in thecorner connector panel 61 and then into the annular screw receptacles 46of profile element 13 of facade panel 12, which has no corner connectorpanel 61.

While the invention has been described above with reference to specificembodiments, it is apparent that changes, modifications, variations andcombinations can be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

1. A profile element configured for arrangement on a back of a facadepanel and for fastening the facade panel to a building wall or a facadebeam, comprising: a profile element integrally formed and having areceiving section, a fastening section and a mounting section, whereinthe receiving section forms a receiving space at its free end and thefastening section is positioned with respect to the facade panel suchthat the mounting section extends beyond the facade panel.
 2. Theprofile element of claim 1, wherein the receiving space is U-shapedwherein a first leg of the U-shaped receiving space lies in the sameplane as the fastening section resting on the back of the facade panel.3. The profile element of claim 2, wherein a second leg of the U-shapedreceiving space lies in the same plane as the mounting section.
 4. Theprofile element of claim 3, wherein a stepped recess is formed at thefree end of the mounting section.
 5. The profile element of claim 3,further comprising a stop aligned substantially transversely to the legand formed at a free end of the second leg of the U-shaped receivingspace.
 6. The profile element of claim 1, wherein the profile element ismade of extruded aluminum.
 7. The profile element of claim 1, whereinthe profile element has a greater height than a height of the facadepanel.
 8. A facade system for mounting on buildings having a pluralityof facade panels and a plurality of profile elements connected to theplurality of facade panels, the plurality of profile element eachconfigured for arrangement on a back of a respective facade panel andfor fastening the respective facade panel to a building wall or a facadebeam, each profile element integrally formed and having a receivingsection, a fastening section and a mounting section, wherein thereceiving section forms a receiving space at its free end and thefastening section is positioned with respect to the facade panel suchthat the mounting section extends beyond the facade panel.
 9. The facadesystem of claim 8, wherein the facade panel with the plurality ofprofile elements is mounted by screws to a wall of the building or onthe facade beam, the screws placed in an area of the mounting section.10. The facade system of claim 8, wherein the plurality of profileelements are screwed to the plurality of facade panels.
 11. The facadesystem of claim 10, wherein, in the installed state, the plurality offacade panels are mounted so that a gap is formed between the facadepanels and the gap is sufficiently largely dimensioned to allow for atool to reach screws in the area of the mounting section.
 12. The facadesystem of claim 11, wherein, in the installed state, superposed facadepanels are positioned such that the stepped recess protrudes into thereceiving space.
 13. The facade system of claim 12, wherein the steppedrecess protruding into the receiving space is fixed by a stop withrespect to its horizontal movement play.
 14. The facade system of claim10, wherein the plurality of facade panels are made of glass fiberconcrete panels, fiber cement panels or laminate panels.
 15. Aconstruction kit for mounting a facade on a building wall or a facadebeam, comprising: a first profile element configured for arrangement ona back of a respective facade panel and for fastening the respectivefacade panel to the building wall or facade beam, the profile elementintegrally formed and having a receiving section, a fastening sectionand a mounting section, wherein the receiving section forms a receivingspace at its free end and the fastening section is positioned withrespect to the facade panel such that the mounting section extendsbeyond the facade panel, a second profile element comprising only amounting section and a recess formed thereon and forming a lowermostpart of the facade, and a third profile element having a mountingsection along the building wall or along the facade beam and being flushvertically oriented therewith for fastening a peripheral top facadepanel.